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A franchise for everything

As I lay flat on my back on the wet ground, mud oozing slowly into the neck of my coat I reflected that paying a dog walking franchise sounded like an excellent option, particularly at that moment in time.

I also took the opportunity to reflect that wearing worn out trainers on a steep, mud covered path was tantamount to using totally slick tyres in a deluge on a grease covered motor racing circuit; i.e. there ain’t going to be much grip.

And so it was… not much grip; one slip in the primordial ooze and there I was, measuring my length in a puddle.

If only there was a dog walking franchise that I could pay so I didn’t have to go through the embarrassment of explaining to the team back at Derigo Towers what had happened.

Hold the ‘phone for a moment, though. There is a dog walking franchise called (somewhat prosaically, I feel) The Dog Walker.

Okay, good.

Now, what about these dirty clothes? I really wish there was a laundry franchise.

Hang on, though. There are several. My own favourite is LAV’PRO, coin operated machines that are easy to use.

Brilliant.

But what about getting my clothes flat again? There are loads of ironing franchises. And then getting the car clean after sitting in it covered in mud? Yep, that too. What if the strain is too much and I need to get away for a holiday. Certainly; there’s a franchise that can do that.

But what if the strain really is too much and I pop my mortal clogs. Well, there’s even a franchise that will provide me (or more accurately my loved ones) with a cardboard coffin so I can be buried in an environmentally friendly way.

In short, there’s a franchise for almost anything you can think of.

I was thinking about this as I lay in the mud and the fact that, in a way, franchising fills the space left by the end of the domestic servant. I’m certainly not suggesting that franchisees are servants in any way, but think about it for a second.

In times gone by the more well off in society employed people to do various things, like clean their houses and clothes, look after their children, drive them about an d so on.

There are now fewer people in society who have ‘servants’ to do all of these things, but the services that were provided have been broken down into their constituent parts and more of us pick and choose those that are needed because of the way we live our lives.

For example, some people need to use child minders, others pay to have their homes cleaned and others are sensible and have someone walk their dog for them.

It’s all the same tasks as in the past, but with services provided in a different way… and franchising is in the ideal position to fill the gap.